MEXICAN AUTHOR VALERIA Luiselli has won the Dublin Literary Award 2021 for her novel “Lost Children Archive”.

The Awards, which offer a €100,000 prize pot for the winner, are sponsored by Dublin City Council.

Luiselli is the first writer from Mexico to win the award, as well as being the fifth woman to win.

Accepting the award, Luiselli spoke about how literature was now more important than ever.

“I can say, without a hint of doubt, that without books – without sharing in the company of other writers’ human experiences – we would not have made it through these months,” said Luiselli.

“If our spirits have found renewal, if we have found strength to carry on, if we have maintained a sense of enthusiasm for life, it is thanks to the worlds that books have given us.”

Her book, “Lost Children Archive”, sees an artist couple and their two children on a road trip from New York to Arizona, detailing their fraying relationship as they travel further west against the backdrop of thousands of migrating children travelling across the US-Mexico border.

Luiselli was born in Mexico City and grew up in South Korea, South Africa and India. She is an acclaimed writer of fiction and nonfiction, with novels like ”Faces in the Crowd” and “The Story of My Teeth”.

Luiselli has previously won two Los Angeles Times Book Prizes and an American Book Award, and was twice nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Kirkus Prize.

Lord Mayor of Dublin and Patron of the Award, Hazel Chu, said that the novel was an important one.

“This year’s Dublin Literary Award winner is a very important book, with significant themes around family and the things that matter to us most as human beings,” said Chu.

“I am very proud of our City for providing this opportunity for the libraries of the world to nominate the books that have resonated most with readers.”

CEO of Dublin City Council, Owen Keegan congratulated Luiselli on her win, saying that he was “immensely proud” that the awards were able to take place this year.